Posted 9:13 pm Monday, January 10, 2011
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UPDATE: Both Church Arsonists Receive Multiple Life Sentences
By DAYNA WORCHEL
Staff Writer
The two East Texas men who pleaded guilty in December to multiple counts of felony first degree arson and charges of attempted arson each received life sentences on Monday, along with 20-year sentences on the attempted arson charges.
Staff Writer
The two East Texas men who pleaded guilty in December to multiple counts of felony first degree arson and charges of attempted arson each received life sentences on Monday, along with 20-year sentences on the attempted arson charges.
The two were sentenced in the 114th District Court with Judge Christi Kennedy presiding.
Jason Robert Bourque, 20, and Daniel George McAllister, 22, each received the maximum sentences they could for those crimes, which the Smith County District Attorney's Office recommended. The punishment range for the first degree arson charges was five years probation to life, and on the second degree arson charges was two to 20 years.
Bourque will be eligible for parole after he serves 20 years “day for day,” on five counts of first degree arson and two counts of second degree attempted arson, which he will serve concurrently, Smith County District Attorney Matt Bingham said. After Bourque serves the five first degree and two second degree arson charges, and if he is paroled on the first seven charges, he will then serve the third 20-year attempted arson sentence, Bingham said.
McAllister will be eligible for parole after he serves 15 years on two counts of first degree arson and two counts of second degree arson. McAllister will also serve these sentences concurrently. Both men waived their rights to an appeal.
Updated Monday, January 10, 2011 at 10:58 a.m. CST
Bourque will be eligible for parole after he serves 20 years “day for day,” on five counts of first degree arson and two counts of second degree attempted arson, which he will serve concurrently, Smith County District Attorney Matt Bingham said. After Bourque serves the five first degree and two second degree arson charges, and if he is paroled on the first seven charges, he will then serve the third 20-year attempted arson sentence, Bingham said.
McAllister will be eligible for parole after he serves 15 years on two counts of first degree arson and two counts of second degree arson. McAllister will also serve these sentences concurrently. Both men waived their rights to an appeal.
Updated Monday, January 10, 2011 at 10:58 a.m. CST
